Get Your Reps In: Soak In “Singin' in the Rain”

What to see at Portland’s repertory theaters.

Singing in the Rain (IMDB)
By Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

The best “we’re making a movie” movies have always had their cake and devoured it too. They strike that deft balance between skewering the vain, craven industry that created them while burnishing the art form’s dreamy power.

There might be no more glowing example than Singin’ in The Rain (1952). Arguably the greatest musical comedy Hollywood ever produced, it plays Feb. 1 at Cinema 21. The showing kicks off a full month of 1950s classics handpicked by film programmer Elliot Lavine.

Set 25 years earlier, at the inception of “talkies,” Singin’ in the Rain finds a trio of silent-era performers (Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Jean Hagen) trying to make the uneasy leap to sound, with the help of a would-be ingénue (Debbie Reynolds).

It’s an extravaganza of color, joy and mockery of hokey romances, but perhaps above all, you couldn’t re-create the miracle of Gene Kelly’s footwork with a billion-dollar supercomputer and a contract with the devil. Cinema 21, Feb. 1.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: Round Midnight (1986), Jan. 31–Feb. 2. Academy: The Iron Giant (1999),Contact (1997), and The Great Silence (1968), Jan. 29 and 30. Cinemagic: Mulholland Drive (2001), Feb. 1 and 4. Lost Highway (1997), Jan. 31–Feb. 2. David Lynch: The Art Life (2016), Feb. 2–4. Clinton: Arcana (1972), Jan. 29. Fantasia (1940), Jan. 30. Poor Things (2023), Jan. 31. Sleepaway Camp (1983) with live commentary by Felissa Rose, Feb. 1. Hollywood: Salad Days (2014), Jan. 29. Men in Black (1997), Jan. 31. Groundhog Day (1993), Feb. 2. Cocaine Wars (1985), Feb. 4. Tomorrow: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022), Jan. 30. To Die For (1995), Jan. 31. Groundhog Day (1993), Feb. 2.

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